Ruiz's poor outing yesterday has raised some speculation concerning how long it will take him to settle in ... at what point do we label him a success or failure? As I was thinking about that, I started wondering if there's a personality trait that makes players more, or less, likely to find EPL success. For instance, when I heard Fulham were buying Clint Dempsey, I was confident he'd do well for the team. Even as he struggled for months to get into the starting 11, I didn't lose hope. But when we hired Eddie Johnson, I was far less sure though they had similar MLS careers. For me it came down to the temperment. Before Dempsey joined Fulham, he had more in common with the violent Joey Barton than he did with Kumbaya Brian McBride. He got in fights. He got straight reds and was very, very competitive. Eddie Johnson scored just as many goals and would probably beat Dempsey in a foot race, but I knew he didn't have that same fire inside. Andriy Shevchenko? One of the best Serie A players of his day - technical, fast and clinical, but a complete flop for Chelsea. Then there's Carlos Tevez. Slower and less technical than Shevchenko, but very successful. Is Stephen Hunt better than Juan Sabastian Veron? In the EPL he is. Is Craig Bellamy better than Robinho? In the EPL he is? Question remains whether Bryan Ruiz has that nasty, stick-a-finger-in-your-eye competitiveness.
And Gary Lineker had a fine top-flight English career, but was regarded by all concerned as an all-round nice guy (400+ league games; no red or yellow cards), similarly Bobby Charlton. More recently, Zolton Gera has been successful in the Premier League with West Brom (his first spell with them, I'm not talking about his yet-to-start-properly return) and with us and is oft-reported as another nice guy. I'm sure that there are many other examples that others could suggest. I don't think it's as simple as having a nasty streak. Players do need competitiveness and an inner drive to work hard at their game, but that can come in nice or nasty packages. As well as competitiveness (nasty or otherwise), a lot will depend on Ruiz's ability to think about the changes he has to make to adapt to a faster, more physically demanding league, and then put them into action. But I agree, the jury is still out on whether he has what it takes to adapt.
That's a question that if managers had an answer there would not be any flops! I think Ruiz can make it if he is given time and the team considers him one of theirs. He is strong, and relatively quick. Skillful but also not used to the EPL level of football. I believe he will come good. Jol should have waited and used him later in the game. Ruiz was isolated many times and surrounded by 4-5 players and nowhere to pass the ball. He was playing out of position. Very wide, would expect him to start next to Bobby.
To me to succeed in the Premier you have to form partnerships with the players around you, you have to pick up the pace of the game and both take time. I presume Jol has seen more of him than I have and can see where he can fit in. My tuppence worth is: What I've seen of Ruiz in clips and live, he played two roles, attacking midfield using his skills with his left foot to go pass defensive midfielders and panic defenders, then set up goals. He's also played a more attacking role, his heading ability is very good, and he uses his close left foot skills inside the box to score goals. It maybe that to get the best from him as a goal scorer, he may have to go up front and partner Dempsey or Dembele rather than Zamora. The drawback I see to play attacking midfield is that he is very left footed and from what I've seen he does not have a change of pace to take him away from Premier defensive midfielders. I'm not sure he can play out on the wing as he doesn't have the pace of a Nani and his crossing isn't great, his through balls are good, so for me he'd have to play roving midfield role. Think the fans have to give him encouragement when he gets game time, as they did with Steed when he first came to us, he used to run round getting nowhere fast (a bit like Dembele now), but in time Steed adjusted to the pace of the Premier to become one of our better players.
i do hope that if Jol puts his foot into the transfer market in Jan, and i believe he will have to,Please dont keep looking around the Dutch market. Yes they have some great players which would not be in our price bracket, but the ones we would get would be at best mediocre championship ability players and definitely not up to premiership speed,or ability.
Interesting post, Super Brian. I'm not sure I follow the logic of the bit I've quoted - what would make Dempsey or Dembele better partners for Ruiz than Zamora? If anything - and don't forget that I haven't actually seen Ruiz play - I would have thought the opposite? What am I missing?
For me it's all about partnerships, if they can't gel because Ruiz is very left footed and he tends to be at his best as a striker coming from the left side of the area. The same can be said of Zamora, he favours his left side, although he is two footed. I think if you play Ruiz right side of the area (ie: like what Duff does out on the wing) then he may be less effective as a striker. But if you play Zamora right side he might be less effective. Dempsey to me has proved he can play the striker role and be effective on both the the right and left area position. If we do play Dutch style (with no out and out striker) then Dembele has done this before. I'm probably totally wrong in all this, just thinking out loud, so I'll leave it up to Jol.
Captain, I never suggested playing the game with a high level of aggression was the sole determining factor in the success of a player. I, too, can think of a dozen players who were genuinely nice people on and off the pitch - Brian McBride, for example. But I think that fierce competitiveness you see in Rooney, Teves, Roy Keane, Cantana, Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, etc. lends itself uniquely to the EPL game. Let me ask you this, Captain: how much better would Dimitar Berbatov be if he had Rooney's temperament? How much better would Eddie Johnson have been with Clint Dempsey's quiet aggression? Gary Neville was commenting on the QPR - Newcastle game last night. Asked what was the main difference between Rooney and everyone else, he said, "Everyone wants to win. But with Rooney, it's an obsession. He needs to win."
Super Brian, although Bobby is left-footed I wouldn't describe him as in any way one sided. His goal on Sunday came from the right hand side, and I don't recall him favouring either side of the pitch. The thing that Bobby has which makes me see him as the ideal partner for Ruiz is his holding up. With a lot of targetmen, what they do is win the ball in the air, getting flick ons and knock downs with their head. What Bobby does so well is to use his strength to take up positions in the box where he can becomes a target for a team-mate. Then - and here's the crucial thing - rather than winning headers, he frequently controls the ball with his chest and looks for a lay off or a shooting opportunity. He's also very team-centred as opposed to selfish. Once him and Ruiz get to know one another's game, this could pay dividends for the new boy. Dempsey, on the other hand, is also good in the air. In his case, his strength is more in crashing the box and getting on the end of things. He's also a bit more selfish with the ball. That isn't necessarily a criticism - it's part of why he got so many goals last season - but it's possibly not something that lends itself to forming great partnerships. I get the feeling that Ruiz has been bought for his goalscoring rather than goalmaking potential. As for Dembele, we've commented on his decision-making and tendency to run into dead ends, which I think puts him in third place of the three potential partners.
DR, fair point that aggression on the pitch can go with niceness of it, but your original post didn't just talk about competitiveness, it talked about 'that nasty, stick-a-finger-in-your-eye competitiveness'. I bow to your knowledge of American players, and it's interesting that you predicted Clint's success and EJ's failure. From what I saw of EJ, there was a general quality issue that wasn't there with Dempsey, but all I know of them is what they did since coming to Fulham. If you say they were equals before that, I'll happily take your word for it. They certainly weren't equals in what they've shown in a Fulham shirt. It's interesting that you list Christiano Ronaldo as one of your examples of ultra-competitiveness. While recognising his huge talent, I've always thought that he tends to go missing in the really big games. By contrast Lionel Messi tends to show up when it counts, and he doesn't obviously fit your pattern of high achievers being the ones with a passionate obsession with winning at all costs. Maybe this is one of those general truths to which smart-alecs like me can always find an exception!
Dempsey's numbers and Johnson's MLS numbers were fairly similar. Johnson had about 45 goals in 120 games in the MLS, a couple of years scoring a goal every other game. He won the golden boot in a youth FIFA tournament and scored 23 goals in 25 appearances as a U17. Dempsey scored 26 goals in 84 MLS appearances. But I'd followed the careers of both players since they're US internationals and while Eddie Johnson is a talented and dedicated player, I've never seen in him the killer instinct that, I believe, separates good players from great. That take-no-prisoners attitude can't be taught; players either have it or they don't. That's why I had confidence in Dempsey's chance of making an impact for Fulham. I remember writing in the 606 blog something like "....if you like Brian McBride, you're going to love Dempsey. He brings a bit of the bad boy onto the field with him" ... just before he'd moved to England, he was suspended two games for violent conduct. While I wanted EJ to become a big time player for Fulham, I didn't have the confidence with him. Ronaldo and Messi - I remember when Cristiano he first came up with Man U, he had that competiveness and aggression, but I think that changed during his last year when mentally he'd already moved on to Madrid. I think Messi has the competitiveness - I think all the Barcelona players have it - but I think he channels his aggression into his play rather than McEnroe-like bad behavior.
I think we are missing a major contributing factor out of this argument. Yes a player has to have the ability to play football in the best league in the world and yes he needs to have good support from the players around him. He is not only a footballer, but a person just like the rest of us. He has to adapt to living in a new country, possibly learning a new language. His family have to settle some here new and get over leaving the comfort of somewhere they know. Moving club for professional players is far more than just the football. Once a player has settled in their life outside of football, then the quality will shine through in their football. Ruiz has not long been in the country due to waiting for a work permit, so he needs time to settle. It is clear that he is graced with good football ability, an essential requisite for success in the premiership. Does he have the desire to succeed ? Of course he does. Does he have a manager that understands his game and can therefore get the best out of him ? Hopefully Jol saw enough of him in Holland to know. Does he have the respect and trust of the fans ? Only time will tell, but for now he needs the fans and club to be 100 % behind him. COYW
I think by January we will all know of Ruiz true ability,and possibility our fate, as from that date we will have to consolidate or panic,and i do so hope its the former.
I think Ruiz showed fast thinking, good short passing, quick turning and short burst speed. I also think he showed the Dembele trait of sometimes not releasing quickly enough and wanting to beat too many. The fluid forward midfield line, with Deuce, Duffer and either Ruiz or Dembele swapping and changing is very good. I do agree that Ruiz will be better played further forwards. It's worrying to hear folk being very critical/sceptical about him after 45 mins. Remember how BZ was vilified by some (and defended by others) before he became a true local hero. Give him a good chance and our support!
